U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

EERE Financial Opportunities

DOE Issues Proposed Rules for Clean Energy Loan Guarantees

May 16, 2007

DOE issued proposed rules on May 10th for its Loan Guarantee program,
which will help spur investment in projects that employ new, clean
energy technologies. By providing the full faith and credit of the
U.S. government, loan guarantees will enable DOE to share some of the
financial risks of projects that employ new technologies and that
avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Projects must employ new or significantly improved technologies as
compared to commercial technologies in service in the United States at
the time the loan guarantee agreement is executed. Under the Fiscal
Year (FY) 2007 Continuing Resolution, Congress provided DOE with
authority to issue guarantees for up to $4 billion in loans.

DOE seeks a broad portfolio of large and small projects from a wide
variety of technologies. DOE requested guarantees for up to $9 billion
in loans in its FY 2008 budget request, including $4 billion in loans
for projects that promote biofuels and clean transportation fuels and
$1 billion in loans for projects using new technologies for electric
transmission facilities or renewable power generation systems.
Projects seeking loan guarantees will undergo the disciplined and
rigorous reviews necessary to take proper account of the potential
risks of a project. Ultimately, the issuance of the loan guarantees
will depend on the merits and benefits of particular project proposals
and their compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. The
DOE's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) will be open to public
comment for 45 days. See
the DOE press release and the NOPR, as published in the May 16th edition of the Federal Register.